This invention relates to disposable foam sleeves for providing circumferential contact between a sound control device (a device for wholly, partially, or selectively blocking, transmitting, or amplifying sound), e.g., an ear plug, a stethoscope, a hearing aid, etc., that is inserted into a user's ear canal. The invention finds a particular use when it is applied to the distal portion of a CIC (completely in the canal) hearing aid to provide a seal to the walls of a user's ear canal. Such sleeves can eliminate the annoying feedback that otherwise often occurs when a hearing aid wearer is dining with friends or talking on the telephone. In another aspect the invention relates to a kit comprising a container holding unused sleeves and enabling the convenient disposal of used sleeves.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,880,076 and 5,002,151 both disclose hearing aids that, are modified in various ways to accept complementary user-disposable foam sleeves adapted to mount on and fit around the distal portion of the hearing aid to seal it to the user's ear canal. Although technically feasible, all these combinations have thus far proved commercially unappealing, both because of their technical complexity and their relatively high cost. U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,020 describes another way of sealing a hearing aid to a user's ear canal, viz., by removably adhering a foam layer to the otherwise canal-contacting periphery of the hearing aid. Although this technique is quite effective, the process of adhering the foam to the proper location requires a degree of manual dexterity sometimes lacking in persons who wear hearing aids. Yet another prior art technique involves permanently adhering a foam ring to the hearing aid, thereby preventing the user from removing and replacing it. In the absence of adhesive, such a ring is likely to slide off and remain in the ear canal when the hearing aid is removed.